OVERVIEW

Background:
A debate has raged for years over whether to oust the seals from Children's Pool beach so it can be used by families in La Jolla.

What's changing:
Superior Court Judge Yuri Hofmann ordered the city to begin removing the seals by Thursday. The governor then signed legislation that allows the City Council to decide the seals' fate — starting Jan. 1.

The future:
A pro-seal lawyer is seeking an injunction to stop the dispersal, given the likelihood that the council will side with the seals.

The Children's Pool beach in La Jolla will likely attract hundreds of activists, police and onlookers this week if the city follows through on a judge's order to begin removing seals by Thursday morning.

The cove is a familiar site for standoffs between supporters of the longtime seal squatters and those who say the beach belongs to children.

Superior Court Judge Yuri Hofmann, who has had little patience with city attorneys in the case, yesterday ordered the city to start dispersing the seals within 72 hours and threatened heavy fines for each day the city fails to comply.

A federal court may intervene, given that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation yesterday that would grant the San Diego City Council final say over the fate of the Children's Pool starting Jan. 1.

The council leans in favor of letting the seals stay, but the city drafted a $689,000 dispersal plan under court order. A contractor would carry a public-address system emitting barking-dog noises to scare off the seals, and there would be police along to protect the contract workers.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said the city would follow the order by dispersing the seals “as humanely as possible” and in accordance with the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.

“I urge the passionate activists on both sides of this issue to behave peacefully and to cooperate with law enforcement officers who will be on site during dispersal activities,” Sanders said in a statement before the governor signed the bill.

As city officials moved ahead, the chances improved throughout the day that they might not have to tackle what would likely be a public-relations nightmare.

Bryan Pease, a lawyer trying to maintain the seal colony, asked a federal appeals court yesterday for an emergency injunction that would stop the city from taking immediate action.

The injunction's chances were bolstered hours later by Schwarzenegger's decision to sign the Children's Pool legislation co-sponsored by state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego. The council is expected to turn the area into a seal sanctuary.

Kehoe said she hopes the legislation will give the city more ammunition if it appeals Hofmann's decision.